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Paxman believed to be considering Channel 4

The face of Newsnight, Jeremy Paxman is expected to bow out in a low-key final appearance tonight, after 25 years presenting the BBC 2 programme.

A Channel 4 exec is believed to have been in contact with Paxman, but the presenter, it seems, would not be working for Channel 4 News, if he signs up. It is understood that he may become a presenter for other areas of Channel 4 programming.

There are suggestions that he is interested in hybrid programmes that blend news and comedy.

He continues to front University Challenge for BBC2. In an interview earlier this year, Paxman told The Guardian newspaper that the BBC was “smug” and he complained about Radio 1Xtra being played in the lifts at the BBC’s New Broadcasting House.

Paxman was a member of the jury for the recent Forward Prize for Poetry, along with the musician Cerys Matthews and three poets.

He declared that contemporary poetry - vast amounts of which he enjoys - should “raise its game a little bit, raise its sights, and aim to engage with ordinary people much more , " he said. "I think poetry has really rather connived at its own irrelevance and that shouldn't happen, because it's the most delightful thing.”

On a lighter note, the veteran newscaster shares a tandem with London mayor and bicycle fanatic Boris Johnson in tonight's programme.